


One night stands are a great way to meet people

by giselleslash



Series: One Night Stands 'verse [1]
Category: Merlin FPS
Genre: FPS, M/M, Merlin - Freeform, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 19:52:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giselleslash/pseuds/giselleslash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First there's a one night stand, then there's courting. Merlin thinks they've probably done things a bit backwards.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One night stands are a great way to meet people

**Author's Note:**

> I've been informed that it's basically impossible to get a phone signal underground on the trains so you'll have to suspend disbelief and pretend like I know what I'm talking about. (WHICH I DON'T. Obviously.) LET'S ALL ~MAKE BELIEVEEE THAT THE POWER OF LOVE CHANGES THE WOOOORLD. and powers mobile phones. LOL ;D

Merlin drags him by the arm into the bedroom at the end of the hall. The music and voices, sporadic bursts of loud laughter, follow them until Merlin shuts the door behind them. Slams it really. And now they're alone and the noises of the party are muffled and the room is in that moonlit darkness that's light enough to see by and Merlin is glad. He's glad the lights don't need to be turned on because while he's drunk, he's not off his arse, not really. At least not to the extent that would make this entire situation at all okay.

Merlin doesn't do shit like this.

Ever.

He's the guy that drives all the other drunk asses home at the end of the night because he worries and thinks there will be car crashes and explosions and probably wounded family pets that have wandered out into the road and he can't handle some little girl's tears over a dead dog. His mind goes there. He worries and he paces and he's all worse case scenario when it comes to parties and drinking and he knows he's an old woman, but my god, think of the children and the _dogs_. Oh god, the _dogs_. Merlin sometimes thinks there's something wrong with him that he worries more about the dogs than the children, but that's only because Merlin doesn't do well with sticky fingers, snotty noses and endless questions about frogs and how did your ears get so big, do they help you fly?

So. Yes. He doesn't drag beautiful strangers into dark bedrooms at two in the morning. Really, he doesn't. He knows he should be embarrassed but he isn't because the man is kissing his neck and saying things that sound lovely and far away and Merlin decides he's not going to worry, or be embarrassed, or anything at all like himself. He's just going to kiss the man's lips and touch his warm skin and forget everything that he's _supposed_ to be.

Merlin thinks he should know more about the man other than his name, Arthur, that he's a friend of Gwen's and that he's fucking gorgeous.

But then there are hands, large and perfect, pushing at him until he walks backwards to the bed and they fall onto it in a tangled heap of limbs and breath that smells like too much alcohol.

 _It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter._ Merlin tells himself over and over because he's not himself tonight. He's the guy that Arthur wants. Beautiful Arthur and his blue eyes and clever clever fingers that have managed to tug Merlin's jeans and boxers halfway down his thighs so they can take hold of Merlin's cock and oh, shit. Oh god. Merlin throws his arms over his face and tries to breathe and stop himself from saying things like; yes, yes, suck it, suck me, yes, like some sort of porn star when Arthur's mouth closes around him. It's all heat and Arthur's tongue along the underside of his cock and he thinks this is exactly what he needs.

Arthur's hands are on Merlin's hips, holding him in place, and his thumbs are pressing, rubbing back and forth over Merlin's hipbones. It's sort of ticklish and sort of sweet and Merlin pulls his arms back from his face so he can get up on his elbows and look down at Arthur as he sucks him. He needs to have that image burned into his mind because he suspects it'll be the source of many a wank fantasy in the future.

Arthur's head is moving up and down and Merlin reaches out to push his fingers into the hair falling over Arthur's forehead. His fingers clench and unclench and Arthur makes noises in the back of his throat that put Merlin on the edge of coming. He lets go of Arthur's hair and moves his hand over Arthur's shoulder and pulls at the t-shirt he's wearing. Merlin wants it off. Arthur is doing amazing things and Merlin is shaking already and all the further they've gotten is Merlin's jeans pulled halfway down and he wants skin on skin. Now. He knows Arthur'll be perfect naked and he wants to prove himself right.

"Come on," he says as he pushes Arthur's mouth away from his cock, pushes him back until he sits up on his knees. Merlin follows him up and presses his lips to Arthur's for another kiss, open mouthed. Arthur tastes like Merlin and cherries and he laughs against Arthur's lips as he thinks about Morgana walking around and randomly dropping cherries into people's drinks as Leon followed, holding the bowl and shrugging at them when they'd look at Morgana, baffled. He sort of wants to find her, thank her and hug her for making Arthur taste sweet like cherries. And cock. Cherries and cock and Merlin laughs again. He won't thank her for the cock bit, although he knows she'll appreciate it.

Merlin tugs at Arthur's shirt, mouth still kissing him, and it's a tangled mess getting Arthur's t-shirt over his head and when they're done Arthur's hair is standing on end and Merlin thinks he can't wait to fuck him. He couldn't possibly, not when Arthur's looking like that. But then there's a race to get Merlin's own shirt off and to kick his shoes off so his jeans and boxers can follow. When Arthur starts undoing his jeans Merlin can't stop himself from leaning forward and biting at Arthur's hip, his jeans are sitting low and it's like an invitation, that jut of hipbone. Arthur tips forward a bit, leans over Merlin and cups his cheek in his hand as he guides Merlin's mouth toward his cock. Arthur's zipper is only partway down and Merlin tangles his fingers up with Arthur's in his haste to help him finish the job. Merlin's pressing kisses low on Arthur's belly, waiting, just waiting for them to figure out their fingers and get on with it already. And when they do Arthur suddenly moves back, away from him, so he can stand at the foot of the bed and kick off those goddamn in the way jeans. Merlin moves to sit on the edge of the bed and reaches out to wrap an arm around Arthur's waist and pull him so he's standing between Merlin's thighs. Arthur's cock is in Merlin's mouth then and he grabs at Arthur's waist and the back of his right thigh just to keep himself from touching his own cock and pulling himself off because it's all too much. He's never had someone like Arthur before. It's all a bit mad, really.

Arthur is breathing heavily and his fingers are at Merlin's neck, not forcing him to move, just holding him steady and it must be too much for him as well because suddenly he's tightening his fingers at Merlin's throat and pushing him off his cock with a, "stop." Merlin looks up at him then and Arthur swears under his breath and is pushing Merlin onto his back and crawling on top of him. His skin is so warm, nearly hot, and Merlin wonders how he's supposed to stop touching Arthur and decides he _doesn't_ need to stop. He doesn't, he can keep sliding his hands over Arthur's side, the small of his back, the inside of his thigh and it's crazy. Like all of this is just there for Merlin to touch and run his mouth over, kissing and biting.

And then it's not because Arthur has moved him onto his stomach, his hand pressing down at the small of Merlin's back and he's telling him to, "stay. just. just stay." so Merlin does. He feels Arthur's breath on the back of his thigh, then his lips pressing kisses where his breath just was and Merlin shifts, his cock is so hard he needs to rub it against the bed to find any kind of relief. Arthur's hands are on his ass and they cover him completely. Merlin shivers at the thought of what they look like holding him down, fingers spreading over his ass and pulling his cheeks apart, and he shoves his face into the bed. He's red with embarrassment and want. Arthur's breath is no longer on the back of Merlin's thigh, it's hot and close and Merlin presses his forehead into the mattress.

"Yes. That. _That_."

Merlin's voice is needy but it doesn't matter because Arthur's mouth is on him and the touch of his tongue makes Merlin jump and grab at the sheets on the bed. He swears and his shoulders shake as his fists tighten their hold and he tries not to push back against Arthur's mouth. But there's a pinpoint of heat at the back of his neck and with each touch of Arthur's tongue the spot of heat grows until it spreads over his shoulders and prickles down his back and then he can't stop himself. He rocks his hips and pushes back against Arthur's mouth and his fingers just tighten their hold, spread him wider. He's so open and exposed and _ready_ that he wants to scream at Arthur to fuck him but he presses his mouth to the bed instead and pants, heavy and desperate, mouth open.

Arthur disappears suddenly and Merlin gasps with the shock of the loss. It must have been loud, Arthur must have heard him, because his heat is back hovering over Merlin just as suddenly as it left and he's holding Merlin's sides and pressing a kiss to his spine. "I'll be right back. My pocket. Condoms." Merlin nods his head and decides he's not going to think about the kind of person Arthur is that he has condoms just waiting in his pocket. He closes his eyes and believes that it's because Arthur was hopeful about the party, back at his house, when he was getting ready, and not because he's some sort of slag that just _expects_ things like this to happen to him.

Oh god Merlin hopes because Arthur is gorgeous and is probably, actually, a giant slag and Merlin is only one of many. But it doesn't matter because Arthur's slick fingers are pressing to get into him and Merlin is moaning like a fucking slag himself. It only gets worse when Arthur's cock pushes inside him because the pressure makes him rock his hips up with a jerk and make sounds that get trapped in his throat. Arthur's hands slide over Merlin's forearms until his fingers reach Merlin's and wrap around them as they stay twisted and clenched in the sheets. Arthur is covering him completely, trapping him against the mattress and Merlin wants to beg him not to move from where he is because he's all the way inside Merlin now and it's goddamn brilliant.

Arthur digs his knees into the bed, Merlin caught between his thighs, as he starts to move in long, slow thrusts. Their breathing is loud in the room, hanging heavy around them, and Merlin feels Arthur's at the back of his neck, hot and wet. Merlin rocks his hips with Arthur's and each rise of his hips brushes his cock against the sheets beneath him and he wants so badly for Arthur to touch him, to come, and at the same time not to touch him at all, because all he wants is to keep going.

But too soon Arthur rolls them to their sides and lets go of Merlin's hands to touch his cock, fingers moving from tip to base, as he holds Merlin against his chest with his other hand. Merlin can't think at all after that because Arthur is fucking him, hard, and Merlin's fingers are digging into Arthur's wrist as he jerks him off and then he's coming. His face turned into his arm and his mouth held shut in a desperate attempt to not shout out. He's hot and sweaty and Arthur has just stilled inside him, coming as well.

And the only thing that goes through Merlin's mind is that he wants this again.

 

~~**~~

 

Merlin wakes up the next morning feeling like warmed over shit to the sound of clothes rustling at the foot of the bed. He cracks open an eye and sees Arthur hunched over trying to tug on his shoe. His t-shirt is rucked up in back and Merlin can see the smooth skin of his lower back. He wants to kiss it, but something obviously died in his mouth and Arthur is right in the middle of trying to sneak out. What's the protocol for that? Should Merlin just say, 'oy, hold on a tick while I give your back a good feel up then you can be on your merry little walk of shame way'? Did he say anything at all? But fuck, what would he even say if he _did_ say something? Best to just pretend like he's still asleep and watch Arthur sneak out through one barely cracked open bloodshot eye.

Shit.

Shitshitshit.

 

~~**~~

 

Morgana and Leon are nice enough to feed him once he decides to get up and do his own walk of shame, even though he just fucked some dude in their guest bedroom and left their bed a rumpled mess. And neither one of them appear to be very sea-worthy at the moment either, what with the way they're gingerly moving about and digging through the detritus on their counters in order to find enough usable silverware and bowls and plates for breakfast.

Morgana is staring off into space waiting for the water to come to a boil for tea. She looks a bit like a zombie the way she's sort of lurching to one side. Her hair is piled up on top of her head and she's wearing her glasses and pink and purple striped knee socks, also what clearly must be Leon's boxers and t-shirt because about three of her could fit inside them. Leon, thankfully, isn't wearing Morgana's knickers, at least as far as Merlin knows. Who the fuck knows what's under his pyjama bottoms and who doubly fuck knows what Leon and Morgana get up to in their spare time. Sometimes it's just not worth thinking about.

"Should we do a proper fry up? Soak up all the alcohol?" she asks absently, her eyes still on the kettle.

"Toast. We're having tea and toast." Leon answers her.

"I'm going to die," Merlin says as he drops his head to the table.

"Make a fry up," Morgana tells Leon, ignoring both him and Merlin altogether.

"Yeah, a'right," Leon says, though Merlin knows he doesn't mean it because soon there's a plate of plain toast at his elbow and Leon is patting his head all comforting and Leon-y as he sits down in the chair next to Merlin.

Morgana shuffles over to the table with the tea mugs and they sit in silence for a bit as they eat and Leon examines the shoe that's inexplicably left on their table.

"This isn't yours," he says to Morgana. "Who the hell leaves a shoe?"

Morgana shrugs and drinks her tea.

It's all going very well, Merlin thinks, until Morgana sets down her mug and says, "So. You fucked Arthur last night. Well done, you." Leon chuckles, pats him on the back and goes back to squinting at the mystery shoe.

"Oh my god. Shut up."

"Leon saw him sneaking out this morning when he got up for a piss. Not very gentlemanly of him, leaving so early after having sexual congress with you in my guest bedroom. I'll bag up those sheets, shall I, so you can wash them and return them at your leisure. Your slutty, shame sheets."

Merlin makes a face at her. "Why can't you just fuck off to France or something and leave me to live peaceably with Leon?"

"Because Leon would miss me, and my tits, you know how sad he gets when they're not around. Do you really want a sad Leon on your hands?"

"Do you know whose shoe this is?" Leon asks Merlin, clearly not in the same conversation as the rest of them.

Merlin shakes his head no and he must look utterly pathetic because Morgana gets up then and drags her chair over next to Merlin's so she can reach over and pull him into a hug.

"It was a bit fucking shit of him to do that, wasn't it?" she asks as she holds him and pets his hair. "I think I'll tell Gwen to have words with him."

Merlin knows the result of Morgana's meddling and Gwen's words will only lead to cringe inducing embarrassment for him but he can't really bring himself to care. All he does is lean into Morgana and let her coddle him, he's tired, dead tired, and all he wants is quiet and the way Morgana smells when she's just woken up, all warm and sleepy. Once Leon gets over his fascination with the leftover shoe he leans over too, presses himself against the other side of Merlin so that he's trapped in a warm, sleepy sandwich between his two favorite people in the world.

And that's enough for now.

 

~~**~~

 

Back at his flat Merlin contemplates the likelihood of ever having to run into Arthur again. The odds are fifty-fifty really. Morgana and Leon vaguely know him through Gwen who was apparently best friends with him when they were young. Merlin has heard tell of a scandalous naked romp in a paddling pool when they were three. Arthur pissed off for New York when he was twenty-one and only just came back. Gwen is over the moon about it and drags him everywhere in an attempt to make him part of the _gang_. And she says it like there's actually a gang, and they have a name and everything. Merlin wonders if Gwen choreographs dance numbers for them to perform on the street in her spare time. He thinks he'll ask Lance about it later.

And it's not like Merlin can disappear on Morgana and Leon altogether and just hang out with Will and his band of miscreants. Merlin's not a snob but he rather prefers being fed delicious food and being hugged by a gorgeous woman who smells like lilacs to getting cans of beer tossed at his head while perching on the one corner of the couch not covered in mystery stains as everyone around him gets high over at Will's place. He really, really likes nice smelling things, and well, Will's flat isn't nice smelling. At all. In fact Merlin often asks Will if he hasn't secretly got a cat while no one was looking. A feral cat possibly? That snuck in undetected by Will while he was in a pot induced haze, maybe? Will just looks at him and says, no, very straight-faced and serious so Merlin keeps wondering.

Arthur doesn't appear as if he's going anywhere and Merlin can't possibly _not_ see Morgana and Leon, or Gwen and Lance, and now the odds are more seventy-thirty that he'll have to speak to Arthur again. He wonders if he and Arthur couldn't possibly have joint custody of the other four, oh, and Elena and Gwaine as well. (Merlin is Gwaine's designated Rainman for when they go to pub quizzes and, as Gwaine puts it, his default BFF since Merlin's been there the longest and what the hell? finding a new BFF is hard work and would totally cut into his 'couch time'.) And shit, the odds are looking more like ninety-ten at this point because Merlin suspects that they'll all be giant arses over this whole every other weekend thing he has plans for organizing with Arthur. His friends are surprisingly unhelpful during Merlin's occasional crises and dramas.

Fuckity fuck fuck.

It's all rather unfortunate because later that night, while Merlin is lying in bed trying to fall asleep, he thinks about Arthur and how he might be just a little bit perfect. And how he smelled like oranges. Even though Merlin has taken a shower he imagines he can still smell Arthur on his skin and he knows damn well he can still feel him there. Everywhere. His fingers holding tightly. And oh god, wouldn't Arthur have been something great to hope for if he hadn't just cocked it all up royally?

 

~~**~~

 

Merlin gets a call at work Monday morning. It's Leon.

"Arthur is going to call you. On the telephone."

Merlin smiles. He loves how Leon expands on the obvious. But then he realizes what Leon has just said.

"On the telephone?" Merlin practically yells.

"Mor called Gwen last night. Gwen claims Arthur has issues. With feelings, apparently, and general overall human like behavior."

"I knew I should have told her to leave it alone."

"I like Arthur myself," Leon keeps talking and Merlin is glad for it. "He seems like a good sort, doesn't he? I mean apart from his poor post sex choices."

"Oh god, I wouldn't know if he's a good sort or not. I just got drunk and fucked him. What do I know?"

"Sometimes that's the way of it, though. I know I had to get drunk to talk to Morgana. I mean she has all that hair, doesn't she? And that perfect face. Very intimidating."

"But see, Leon, here's the difference, you _talked_ to Morgana. I _fucked_ Arthur. I feel as if I went the wrong way about it." Merlin is aiming for dry humor in the face of adversity, but it's not exactly working on Leon.

"Don't think I wouldn't have liked to do the same," he says. "Lucky for you Arthur obviously isn't the sort to threaten the state of your testicles for suggesting such a thing."

"Oh you did not proposition Morgana the first time you talked to her. She told me. You spilt half your beer on yourself then told her she had a pretty face and would she like to eat food some time? Not exactly suave, mate."

"Let me have my fantasies, Merlin. I tell all my less intelligent friends that was the way of it. Once they see how hot Morgana is I'm elevated to King of the Pull in their eyes. And I also have a really lovely version I'm going to tell our kids to gross them out when they're teenagers. It involves poetry."

"Why is Arthur calling me anyway? Wasn't he the one that left me humiliated, weeping and alone in a bed of shame?"

"I love the way you describe things that you've made up in your head like they're true facts," Leon says fondly.

"Fine. So I wasn't weeping but I was still humiliated and curled up in a ball on your guest bed."

"But I truly think the lack of weeping lends you a quiet dignity, Merlin."

Merlin laughs out loud at that. "I hate you."

"I know you do. And Arthur is calling because.."

"Because Morgana and Gwen are making him," Merlin interrupts.

"Maybe a little, but he's calling because he wants to call. He asked Gwen for your number before any sort of meddling from either Gwen or my wife. I think he truly wants to make things right by you."

"I don't know. What am I even going to say to him?"

"I haven't a clue. Why don't you go the normal route; wait until he says something and then respond accordingly. That always works for me."

"You're grossly unhelpful, Leon."

"Just remember, you could be talking to Morgana right now. I offered to call and tell you because I'm a good friend."

"I really don't know what's worse though, your complete lack of interest in my plight or Morgana's inappropriately high level of interest. You two are woefully out of sync for a married couple, it pains me to say."

"Well you know the goal of our marriage was to live in harmony with you, Merlin. It was in our vows and everything, or did you sleep through that bit of the ceremony too?"

"I did not sleep through your wedding. That was a sniffle not a snore."

"It was a snore."

"A sniffle. I had a cold."

"We all took pictures with you as you slept. We posed you and put flowers in your hair and even got the vicar to sit in your lap for that one we framed and gave you as a Christmas present. The rest of the pictures are in our wedding album, actual photographic proof."

"Well, fine, but I only slept at the very end and that was only because I had to share a bed with Gwaine and he's a sleep eater. How am I supposed to get a proper night's sleep when the guy sleep eats a bag of crisps next to me in bed?"

"I do love how Gwaine sitting up to watch _Die Hard_ and eating jaffa cakes has morphed into this story about him being a sleep eater. I love how your brain interprets the world."

"I think this conversation is on its last legs. Time to say goodbye, Leon."

"Ha. You have no rebuttal so you claim end of conversation. I'll let it go this time because your brain is sex addled."

"Goodbye, Leon."

"Have a lovely chat with Arthur."

"I will, thank you. Goodbye."

"Try not to have phone sex with him."

Merlin hangs up on Leon and pretends like he didn't hear his cackling laughter on the other end. The twat.

 

~~**~~

 

Merlin wishes Leon had never called him to tell him about Arthur's impending call because now all he's done is spend the rest of his day checking to see if his mobile is still on and calling it from his work phone to see if it is indeed still working.

Because Arthur hasn't called.

And it's been hours.

So what if it's only just past seven and Arthur could conceivably still be at work or just now getting home. Merlin has been on edge all day long and seven might as well be midnight for all he cares.

And the worst thing is he hasn't a clue what Arthur is planning on telling him. Is he going to call just to apologize and do the whole, 'friends?' thing, or is he calling for something more maybe? Merlin's not sure which he dreads, or anticipates, more. The whole apology-slash-friends thing would be the best choice, rationally, like it would freak Merlin out much less than the other choice. But god, how humiliating too, Arthur being all embarrassed by the entire thing and _apologizing_. He doesn't want that. He really, really doesn't. It would be awful and disappointing and would possibly put a teeny tiny little crack in his heart too, if he were willing to admit to it.

Shit. Shitshit.

But then there's the whole possibility of _more_. Merlin knows it's unlikely, odds are probably eighty-twenty against it, but he's been secretly harboring the hope all day long that Arthur just might be calling because he wants to see him again. Like on purpose. And free of awkward advances of friendship. Merlin has thought about increasingly embarrassing and sappy scenarios. There may have been a soundtrack involved and the potential for running toward each other in slow motion. Merlin isn't entirely delusional and knows the likelihood of anything happening is next to none, much less with swelling music in the background and a rainy train platform, but still. He's been hoping all day long which has inevitably made him sick to his stomach and jittery as hell.

It hasn't helped matters that apparently Leon felt the need to tell Lance and Gwaine about the phone call and Gwaine has spent the entire day texting him truly obscene suggestions for phone sex and Lance has sent him repeated frowny face emoticons with, 'has he called yet??' attached to them. Really. Lance and Gwen are slowly morphing into one person and it'd frighten Merlin if he had time to worry about Lance's increased estrogen levels. Gwaine he can just ship off to Sex Addicts Anonymous and let them deal with him.

In a truly impressive spastic gesture of frazzled nerves and panic, Merlin throws his phone when it actually starts to ring. Thank fuck he throws it in the general direction of the couch and it's safe from harm and he's safe from weeping in frustration.

He runs over to the couch and fumbles with the phone and sounds rather breathless and out of sorts when he answers it.

"Yes! Hello! Heyyy."

He drops his head onto the couch cushion when he realizes he drew out the 'hey' to the point where he suspects he sounded like The Fonz.

"Um. Hello?"

"Hello." Merlin tries again.

"Merlin?"

"Yeah?"

"This is Arthur?"

Merlin smiles a bit because Arthur says, 'this is Arthur?' like it's a question and he's not quite sure if he actually is Arthur. He sounds like he might be nervous and that calms Merlin's own nerves a bit.

"Is it Arthur?" Merlin asks.

"Yes. Of course it is." Arthur sounds rather put out and Merlin's smile grows.

"Well you asked it in the form of a question so I wasn't sure if you were just giving me general information or if we were playing Jeopardy."

"You're odd, aren't you?"

Merlin has to concede that he is, in fact, odd. "A bit. Yeah."

"Well, okay then, so long as I know."

There's an awkward silence and Merlin tries desperately to think of a topic of conversation. For some reason he feels the need to start telling Arthur about yarn. He knows nothing about yarn but the idea popped into his head and now that's all he can think about, and oh my god, why _yarn_?

"Leon told me you'd call," he finally blurts out in a sudden non-yarn related conversation breakthrough.

"Yeah, I asked Gwen for your number."

"And then you called."

"Ah. Yeah."

Merlin bites on his lip because there's another lull in the conversation and the yarn idea is still burning a hole in his brain.

"I wanted to get your number, you know. That night. But then I, well, didn't, and it was weird so I called Gwen. She's like my go to girl for weird." Arthur pauses for a moment. "I call her a lot."

Merlin wants to shout out a, 'praise Jesus' or something when Arthur speaks because he was seriously on the verge of asking Arthur if he'd ever spun his own yarn, and why? Why? He really needs to stop watching documentaries about Welsh sheep herding in the middle of the night.

"I do that too," Merlin says. "Except with Morgana. I call Morgana, and Leon, a lot. I think you've got the better end of things though. Gwen is very calming and quiet and sensible, Morgana just shouts at me a lot and then my ear starts to hurt and I have to ask her to put Leon on the phone."

Arthur laughs. "Leon's a good sort, isn't he?"

"He said the same about you."

"He did?" Arthur seems genuinely surprised by that, Merlin has no idea why. Why _wouldn't_ people think Arthur a good sort?

"Have you made him a sandwich by any chance? Or talked footie with him? If you've done either of those two things he's pretty much your friend for life now."

"I've done the footie thing, but I've yet to make him a sandwich. That's good to know though."

"He likes his crusts cut off. He thirty years old and the size of a mid-sized tree, but he likes his crusts cut off. He's a bit of baby really."

Arthur laughs again and Merlin smiles. Arthur really does have the most lovely laugh and Merlin's more than a bit proud of himself for making it happen. Twice.

"I'll keep that in mind as well."

"Yes, see that you do."

"So," Arthur says after another slight pause, only this time it's less overwhelming and Merlin only thinks about yarn a little bit. "I just wanted to say sorry, you know, for leaving like that."

"It's fine," Merlin says even though it's not. "I get it."

"No. No, it's not fine. It was a really crap thing to do, actually, and that's why I asked Gwen for your number. I was desperate to apologize."

"There's no need, really. To apologize, I mean. It was just one of those thing, wasn't it? A one night stand, sort of in and out thing." Merlin closes his eyes, moves the phone away from his mouth and groans. Did he really just say a, 'sort of in and out thing'? Fucking hell. Maybe he should have gone with the yarn.

Arthur appears not to have noticed the stupidity of Merlin's declaration because he ignores that bit and says, "Well, I suppose you do those sort of things, the just leaving thing, when it actually _is_ a one night stand. But this isn't."

"It isn't?" Merlin thinks he might sound a bit hopefully pathetic right now.

"Uh. No? Not really, I mean we're going to be seeing each other a lot. We'll probably be friends, yeah?"

Oh, yes. Friends. The dreaded _friends_.

"Yeah, you're right," Merlin says. "We were bound to become friends, or at least pretend like we are for Gwen's sake." Arthur laughs again, but it doesn't really cheer Merlin up like it did before.

"You do that too then?"

"Do what?"

"Do things just to please Gwen. That woman has made me do all kinds of horrid things in my lifetime."

"Horrid? Oh thanks ever so, like I didn't feel enough of a pillock already. Now I'm a horrid thing."

"Fuck! Oh shit. No. No! I didn't mean _you_ were a horrid thing. I meant other horrid things were, um, horrid. You? You're lovely."

Merlin opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. Lovely? Oh god. _Lovely_.

"Merlin?" Arthur asks hesitantly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here," Merlin answers. "You too. You're lovely too."

"Really? You're not horrifically pissed off at me for being a twat the other morning?"

"Well, you're still a twat, but a lovely one."

Arthur laughs, and oh god, it's right back to being lovely. And Merlin also thinks a thesaurus would be a good thing right about now because they both really ought to stop using the word 'lovely'.

"Good. That's good to hear. It makes the next bit easier to say."

"Oh shit, what? Have you got a disease or something? Because that'd make you decidedly less lovely. I know what I said before but the disease card kind of null and voids everything prior."

"No, I haven't got a disease, Merlin," and Arthur says that bit in a fond sort of way that makes Merlin's heart warm, "I was just going to ask you out to dinner."

"Like a date?"

"Yes, like a proper date."

"For food and everything?"

"Yes, Merlin, for food and everything. And I think I should like to kiss you at the end of it as well."

"Oh, I can do the kiss. The food too. I like food, but the kiss, yes, definitely that."

Merlin can hear the smile in Arthur's voice when he says, "I'm glad to hear it."

"Which bit? The food or the kiss?" Merlin teases.

"Hm. Probably both."

Merlin laughs then. It's relieved and lighthearted and full of _joy_ because he really can't believe Arthur asked for a proper date. He's tempted to find his iPod and add the swelling background music he had pictured this moment needing.

"Look," Arthur says, "I know we went about this whole thing wrong. And backwards. Really, really backwards, actually, but I just saw you that night at the party and I wanted. I wanted." Arthur is stumbling a bit over his words.

"Yes?" Merlin asks.

"I wanted to know you," Arthur blurts out in a rush. "And you were laughing and you have this really gorgeous mouth and then everything went pear-shaped after that because I was more than a little drunk and all I could think about was your mouth. And your eyes, those are gorgeous as well. And, uh, well, your ass too. I'm not going to lie. I was thinking of your ass."

Merlin laughs again, even louder than before. "Oh, no worries about that. I was thinking of your ass too. And your eyes. And your mouth. Yeah. Really just your whole entire face because it's really hot."

"Merlin, I fear our dinner conversation is going to be less than brilliant," Arthur tries to say it very solemnly but there's laughter and amusement clear in his voice.

"Pfft. That's alright. Who needs conversation anyway? We already know we're pretty amazing in bed. We'll just aim for more of that."

"Oh no," Arthur says. "We're going about this thing the right way now. I'm planning on courting you properly."

"Courting me? Hadn't you best ask my mother for permission first? What are we? Characters in a regency romance novel?"

"That would be awesome," Arthur says, "but no. I just." There's that pause again. "I just want to do all of this right. I want to do that for you. Is that alright? Or am I being ridiculous?"

Merlin has to hold up for a moment before answering, just to catch his breath. He's not sure how to respond to being told something so terribly perfect.

"No," he says quietly. "No, not ridiculous at all. It's kind of perfect, actually."

Merlin can hear Arthur breathing on the other end of the line.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Arthur asks, very serious and thoughtful. "This thing between us. It's started out all wrong and really shouldn't be anything more than what it was, but I can't let it be that. Can you?"

Merlin shakes his head. He knows Arthur can't see him but he can't exactly say words right now.

"Can you, Merlin?"

"No," Merlin whispers.

"Tomorrow night then? Around seven?"

"Yes."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Yes. Tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Merlin."

"Goodnight, Arthur."

 

~~**~~

 

Merlin is surprised he made it through the next day at work without jumping out his window in a freak out of nerves and anticipation. Granted he did call Morgana, twice. And Leon once. And maybe Lance and Gwaine too.

Well, okay, so maybe he didn't do much actual work, but whatever, he has a date with Arthur. Who cares about the rest?

Merlin thinks about what he wants to tell Arthur about that night at the party. He never really got around to it during their phone conversation and he knows he should probably leave the whole embarrassing incident (well, not the sex, the sex was fucking brilliant, but all the morning after business) in the past but he really, really wants Arthur to know he isn't like that. At all. In fact, Arthur was his first one night stand ever. Period. Which could also be potentially embarrassing. Who lives to be twenty-six without ever having had a one night stand?

Merlin, that's who. The guy who has slept with a grand total of three people in his life, one of which is Arthur.

He knows he's not exactly the most exciting person in the world but it seems rather pathetic that a grown man Merlin's age has only had two long-term relationships and a single one night stand. Gwen calls it sweet. She thinks it all very romantic (she would, of course, since her and Lance have been together since they were nineteen and Merlin is pretty certain Lance has been her one and only). Morgana just shakes her head in disappointment and tells him he needs to get laid more. Although Leon has told Merlin that Morgana really does think it's sweet, just like Gwen, but will never admit it because it will ruin her street cred. Leon always laughs at that, Morgana's feigned badassness. Morgana is about as badass as a kitten on catnip, but whatever, they all let her think she's some sort of special snowflake. It's easier on their heads that way. Morgana tends to have slapping issues that involve the backs of their heads.

The moment Merlin saw Arthur that night at the party (Lance introduced them while Gwen shouted across the room, _'You two will_ love _each other. Trust me.'_ Arthur had turned bright red and had given Gwen a two finger salute while he told her to, _'Stop talking and let me make my own friends, dammit!'_ Merlin thought it was all absolutely endearing.) he pretty much fell top over tail. His heart had sped up when Arthur smiled at him and it took Gwaine elbowing him in the side to actually be able to spit out a few words of a greeting to him. (Gwaine had also, very unhelpfully, spent the rest of the night poking in every now and again to ask about Merlin's wedding plans. Really, he had no idea why he was still friends with Gwaine. Sure, he had saved Merlin from a monster when they were six, well, monster in the loosest sense of the word, it was really just the neighbor's corgi, Princess Piddles, but damn was that dog scary. But one rescue from a killer corgi when he was six did _not_ make up for twenty years of torture thereafter.)

And then they had both gotten drunk and did everything ass backwards, but it was okay, Arthur had called him and asked him out for dinner and now Merlin was panicking about the whole thing. Just as he should be.

"Wear the blue jumper, I like that one," Morgana tells him. She's sitting on his bed and pointing to things in his wardrobe. So far they've been through six tops. They managed to sort out the trouser situation right away. The second Morgana walked into his room she pulled out a pair of jeans from his drawer and told him to, 'wear these, they're the only ones that make you look like you have an actual ass.' which led Merlin to tell her he actually _did_ have an ass, Morgana said if it was there it was invisible and then everything went downhill from there. It was about twenty minutes and a bunch of shouting later that brought them to the blue jumper.

"You do?"

"Of course I do, you look gorgeous in it. All that black hair and blue eyes."

"And an actual ass," Merlin teases Morgana. "I think I'm all set."

Morgana smiles at him and gets up from the bed to walk up behind him and wrap her arms around him. She gives him a good, tight squeeze and a kiss on his cheek. "I just adore you," she says. "And Arthur will too if he's got any sense at all."

"Fingers crossed."

They look at each other in the mirror in front of them. Merlin thinks they could very well be siblings, he's always thought that, not just in looks but in the fact that they've got each other's backs no matter what and still love each other despite all their faults.

"I think he already adores you," Morgana says. "I'm not supposed to tell you, Gwen swore me to secrecy, but really, she should know better." Merlin laughs at that and Morgana gives his chest a little slap. "Anyway," she continues, "Gwen told me Arthur was a bit desperate when he called her for your number. She said she never heard him so flustered, and well, smitten, before. She said he kept going on about your eyes and the sound of your voice."

Merlin blushes. He can't help himself, he's nearly giddy with the information and kind of wants to jump up and down but he manages to stay still.

"Gwen tends to exaggerate," he says.

"Of course she does, she's already planning your wedding."

"Oh, Jesus fuck, don't tell Gwaine that. He's insufferable enough already. He'll only encourage her."

"My lips are sealed," Morgana promises.

"Yeah, I see how well the seal worked with Gwen's secret."

Morgana laughs. "Isn't it the thought that counts?"

"With you? Yes, since it's so often only the thought."

Morgana sticks out her tongue at him and he laughs, but he gives her hands that are crossed over his chest a squeeze and says, "I love you."

"I know. It's what makes you so awesome."

"Clearly my love for you is what makes me a great man."

"That's what I tell Leon."

"Well with him it's true."

Morgana laughs and gives him another kiss before she pulls away and starts messing with his hair. He lets her, there's no use trying to push her hands away, she's like some sort of hand ninja. Whenever you think you've gotten free from her, bam, there she is grabbing on to you again. It's better all around just to stand there and take it like a man.

"Don't be nervous," she says as she keeps fiddling with his hair.

"I'm not."

Morgana raises an eyebrow.

"I'm not."

"So who was it that said, 'Oh my god, Arthur asked me out on a date, uh, hold on a tick, I think I'm going to vomit,' to me on the phone last night?"

"I dunno, some weirdo?" Merlin asks.

"Yes, exactly, some weirdo."

"Well I didn't actually vomit."

"I know. And I'm so proud."

"Alright, so maybe I'm a little tiny bit nervous."

"You'll be fine."

"I'll say something inappropriate."

"You'll be charming."

"I was going to ask him about yarn last night, Morgana. _Yarn_."

"So you talk about knitting, it'll be fun."

"I don't know how to knit," Merlin frowns. "I'll probably say something about his ass too. I did last night, well, he started it, but still. I'll tell him it's like a round, juicy melon and then I'll be screwed."

"Look," Morgana says. "Trust me here when I say you'll be fine. You can't possibly be any worse than Leon was on our first date. He kept looking at my boobs the entire night and complimenting me on the fit of my shirt. And every time he mentioned my shirt he held his hands up to his chest in the universal boob gesture, _and he squeezed them at the same time_. So unless you make some wanking gestures or simulate a blow job I think you'll be okay."

Merlin looks at Morgana then bursts out laughing. "And yet you still married him."

"But it was so cute," she smiles. "He didn't even know he was doing it. Besides, I can't really blame him, it's the power of my boobs."

Merlin rolls his eyes at Morgana and starts tugging at his jumper. "You sure?" he asks as he turns to her.

"Absolutely. Arthur will love the fit," Morgana says as she holds her hands up in front of her chest and squeezes them as she leers at him.

"Oh my fucking Christ, stop that. I don't need to see you doing shit like that," Merlin yells at her as he drags her hands back down to her sides while she laughs at him.

"I'm leaving now," Morgana says as she starts to gather up her things.

"Please do. I really don't need you hovering."

"Have fun." Morgana cups Merlin's cheeks with her hands and gives him a kiss. She's all business about the fun.

"I'll try," Merlin says.

She gives him one more kiss and is a flurry of jackets and scarves and purses as she heads out the door. About fifteen seconds after she leaves his doorbell buzzes and he holds the intercom button down only to hear her yell, 'Have fun, dammit!' at him. He yells back at her to shut the fuck up and go home. He lets go of the buzzer and walks over to peek out his window only to find her waving up at him from the street. He rolls his eyes and waves back.

Then he goes and sits down on the couch and tries to be calm and cool and _not nervous_ while he waits until it's time for him to leave and meet Arthur.

 

~~**~~

 

Merlin stands outside the restaurant waiting for Arthur to show up. He had been hoping not to be the first one there but he'd been so impatient and anxious waiting at his flat that he just had to leave. The nigh is chilly and he's bouncing on his toes a bit in an effort to keep warm. He supposes he could go inside and get them a table but panic has settled in his stomach and he's contemplating what he'll do if Arthur doesn't show up. If he's standing outside then he can just walk away, dejected and heartbroken, obviously, but with no one the wiser. If Arthur doesn't show and he's standing inside waiting for a table, or worse, sitting pathetically alone at one, then he'll be dejected, heartbroken and publicly humiliated. A fucking brilliant combination, that.

Just as Merlin's about to check his phone for the tenth time in the ten minutes he's been standing there Arthur comes jogging around the corner. He smiles when he spots Merlin, and waves, and Merlin just about goes weak-kneed at the sight. God, that smile, wide and bright and full of crooked teeth.

Merlin is fuck out of luck and clearly doomed.

"Sorry!" Arthur shouts as he jogs up to him. "I'm late, I know."

"I was early," Merlin says.

"I usually am as well, but, uh, there were clothing issues and I'd rather not get into it." Arthur is actually blushing and Merlin wants to take his face in his hands and just nibble on Arthur's adorable blushing cheeks.

"Well I had Morgana shouting at me about my ass and I still got here on time. There's so excuse for you."

Arthur looks at him for a second or two then laughs, a delayed reaction that makes the bark of laughter all the more amazing.

"Fine. Fine," Arthur says. "You win. I just had Gwen trying to get me to wear a tie while Lance was on speaker phone telling her to let me dress myself. I finally just snuck out and left them to it."

Merlin laughs. "Wise choice. They're probably still there talking about it and getting absolutely nowhere."

"I'm sure they are," Arthur says as he offers Merlin his arm. Merlin stares down at it and doesn't quite know what to do at first. No one has ever offered him an arm before. The gesture seems antiquated and out of place for their situation but his throat suddenly tightens and when he looks up from Arthur's arm everything is sharp and brilliant around him, Arthur most of all, who's still talking about Gwen and Lance and their inability to fight properly and not even noticing Merlin having a mini breakdown beside him. Merlin stares at him as he slips his hand around the bend of Arthur's arm, his fingers curl around the soft wool of Arthur's jacket, and he really thinks he ought to tell Arthur that he might very well like to stay just like this for the entirety of their date, and possibly forever, if Arthur doesn't mind.

"They're so terribly boring and calm about everything," Arthur is saying. "It's like they never shout and all they do is have _dialogues_ about their _feelings_ , their words exactly, and here I am wanting to shake the both of them and scream, 'fight, for the love of god, fight!' because hell, this hippie emotional crap never works out in the end and they'll only wind up going on some sort of manic crime spree or something because of all their pent up, repressed rage."

Merlin knows he should be paying attention but his eyes are glued to his fingers and the way they look holding onto Arthur's arm, he's curling them up then letting them go just to feel Arthur beneath them and marvel at it.

"Don't you think, Merlin?" Arthur asks him and he looks up at Arthur, completely lost as to what he's supposed to be giving his opinion about.

"Um. What?"

"Gwen and Lance? Possibly the next Bonnie and Clyde?" Arthur prompts.

Merlin nods. "Oh. Yeah" He's pretty sure he looks ridiculously stupid right now, looking at Arthur all cow-eyed and confused. "Okay."

Arthur doesn't appear to mind because he has a slow, secret smile spreading across his lips. A smile that could pretty much claim Merlin entirely if he let himself go. The smile stays, happy and content, on Arthur's lips as he looks down at Merlin's hand holding onto his arm. He slips his own fingers over Merlin's, the tips of them slide over the tops of Merlin's fingers and Merlin closes his eyes at the touch, bites his bottom lip, because the world just collapses in on itself until there's nothing more in it but the feel of Arthur's hand settling down on top of his own. Everything outside of the two of them, and their clasping hands, has just sort of drifted away into the dark.

Merlin drags Arthur to his side, suddenly, and holds him close. "Let's not go in," he says. "I don't want to eat."

Arthur shakes his head no and Merlin hopes that means he doesn't either.

He tightens his hold on Arthur's arm. "Let's walk instead. Anywhere. I don't care."

Arthur nods then, Merlin sees him swallow, like he has something stuck in his throat, before he says, "Yes." and his fingers slide between Merlin's. "Yes." he says again.

Merlin marches them off down the street and they're silent and focused as they walk and Merlin knows it's all a bit frantic and ridiculously dramatic, but dammit, he can hardly breathe. All he wants to do is bury his face in Arthur's shoulder as he keeps an iron grip on his arm. He thinks maybe then he could breathe properly, if he could just have Arthur and this moment surrounding him and pushing at all of his senses. And he doesn't know the why of it, he doesn't understand why he should feel like this and how it's all come about in such an impossibly short amount of time. An unwise amount of time. It's illogical. And dangerous. Oh god, if he's breathless with it already there's no telling what's ahead.

Arthur pulls him down onto a bench and they sit side by side, hands still locked together, and Merlin is warm despite the chill in the air. There are things he wants to tell Arthur, things he had listed and rehearsed at home hoping to be able to remember them all, but they're lost. At least for now. Merlin is hoping the two of them will have a lot more time together, to remember to say things that were forgotten, and things that will come later but are impossible to imagine now.

"I'm not like that," Merlin says. It's all out of order, other things were meant to come first, but it's all he can remember at the moment.

But Arthur understands him.

Of course he does. Why wouldn't he? Merlin wants to laugh, a giddy, out of place sort of laugh, but fuck, he's just so goddamn _happy_ just now.

"I'm not either," Arthur says. He's looking at Merlin in a very intent way, his eyes focused on him and willing him to understand that he's not. That he's telling the truth. "I'm not."

Merlin kisses him. He has to, he's quite sure of it. He has to kiss that mouth that's telling him all the things he wants to hear, and not to get something from him, but because they're real. All of them. And Merlin leans into Arthur's side, nearly pushes into him it's so quickly done, and presses his lips to Arthur's. He's certain words never tasted so sweet as they do on Arthur's lips.

Arthur kisses him back and his lips turn even sweeter.

When they stop Arthur lets go of Merlin's hand, but only so he can touch his fingertips to Merlin's lips instead, and Merlin forgives him the letting go.

"I had all these things I wanted to tell you," Arthur says, "but it seems I've forgotten them."

Merlin's fingers wrap around Arthur's wrist. "It's okay, so did I. We'll talk about them later."

"This is. It's," Arthur tries to say. "It feels."

"Inevitable," Merlin finishes for him.

Arthur breathes then, a small sigh almost, like, yes, that's it exactly and he's glad Merlin's gotten it. "Yes."

Merlin kisses him again and things are quiet and still. Arthur leans his forehead against Merlin's when their lips part and neither of them speak for a moment or two but then Arthur says, quietly, "Tell me everything."

And Merlin does.

He turns himself on the bench and pulls his feet up, sits cross-legged facing Arthur so he can watch the way his face changes when he tells him different things. Arthur rearranges their hands so their fingers are all entwined and Merlin pulls them into his lap where they stay for the rest of the night. And when Merlin's done talking, telling Arthur about the time he kept a turtle in his sock drawer and how he loves the smell of strawberries but hates strawberry jam, he tells Arthur to do the same.

"Now you."

And then it's Arthur's turn.

At the end of the night he knows how much Arthur hates peas (so much, Merlin, you have _no_ idea), loves really, really horrible action movies (think Jean Claude Van Damme), wanted to win an Olympic gold in the 1500m freestyle when he was sixteen and how he saved his allowance and sold all of his Transformers when he was seven to buy Gwen a new kitten when hers ran away.

By then Merlin thinks one night stands are just about the greatest thing there ever was, and why didn't more people have them? They turned out lovely, didn't they?

The only thing that makes them get up from their bench is Arthur saying he was pretty sure he'd lost all feeling in his toes. Merlin laughs, poor toes, and pulls Arthur to his feet. They walk to the tube station and catch the next train. They sit side by side and smile at each other's reflections in the windows opposite them and laugh over how stupid they look. Arthur has to go a couple stops past Merlin's and catch another train, but when it slows for Merlin's stop Arthur gets up with him and walks him over to the door.

"Should I walk you home?" he asks.

"I think I can manage."

Arthur smiles. "Yes. I suppose you can."

"Next time," Merlin promises.

"I'll hold you to it."

"You'll call me, yeah?"

Arthur doesn't answer him, he kisses him instead. Merlin can feel hear the doors opening up behind him and he doesn't want to leave. Arthur ends up having to push him out of the train to get him to go.

"Mind the gap," Arthur laughs.

And then the doors close and Merlin watches Arthur smile at him through the windows as the train starts to pull away. The end of it hasn't even disappeared from sight when his mobile rings.

It's Arthur.

"Yes?" Merlin laughs into the phone.

"I miss you."

"You're very needy, aren't you?"

Arthur laughs. "I'm calling. Just like you asked."

"Well I didn't mean three seconds after you left."

"I'm an eager boy. I want to make sure you're free tomorrow night. I think we should get actual food this time."

"You mean my thrilling conversation wasn't sustenance enough?"

"It was like food for my soul, Merlin. My _soul_."

"But your stomach's another matter, isn't it?"

"You have no idea. I've been told I eat like a pig."

"Me too," Merlin says happily. "I see many fights over food in our future."

"Brilliant." Merlin can hear the smile in Arthur's voice. "So. Tomorrow then?"

"You mean actual tomorrow or later on today?"

"Oh so you're pedantic, are you? Fine then, later on today. I can't possibly wait until actual tomorrow."

"Good, cos I wasn't going to let you." Merlin is on the street by then. He looks up at the sky and sees a few stars making themselves seen despite the glow of London. He knows he should be tired but he feels so awake that he might never sleep again.

"Same time, same place?" Arthur asks.

"I'll be there."

 

~~**~~

 

Merlin walks over to where Morgana is sitting in the sand and plops down in front of her. She scoots closer to him and wraps her arms around his waist. Merlin leans back against her and uses her bent knees that are on either side of him as armrests. They sit quietly for a while and watch the shenanigans going on further down the beach from them. Gwaine has Elena hanging over his shoulder and she's hollering her bloody head off at him. Both Merlin and Morgana burst out laughing when he finally sets her back down and she swipes her left leg out at the back of Gwaine's knees and takes him down. She jumps up and down in victory as Leon and Arthur give her high fives. Lance and Gwen are laughing too hard to do anything.

"Elena and Gwaine are the most ridiculous people I've ever met," Morgana says. "How do they even manage to function?"

"Dunno," Merlin answers. "They're both dippy as fuck, I have no idea how they haven't lost their flat and all their worldly possessions yet. Or given them away to beggars."

It's a windy day and Morgana's hair whips around them. He pushes it out of his face and holds onto a chunk while she gathers it up then twists it into a sort of braid and traps it between her chest and Merlin's back to keep it from flying everywhere.

"Surely one of them will have forgotten to pay some bill."

"Like the rent."

Morgana laughs. "Yes, exactly that. Although they've managed this long so maybe there's hope for them yet."

"Gwaine always tells me he has ninja smarts, you don't see them but they attack when needed. I told him they're pretty fucking lazy ninjas if that's actually the case."

"Poor Gwaine," Morgana says just as shouts come from near the water. Leon has Gwaine in a headlock and is heading for the water with him.

"I think your husband has those ninja smarts too," Merlin teases.

"Oh, Merlin, not everyone can snag a super stud like Arthur."

"This is true."

Morgana starts to imitate Merlin, "A man so beautiful and smart and funny and beautiful and smart, who also happens to be a sex god, that all the other inferior men weep in dismay and jealousy."

"I say the sex god thing twice, not the beautiful and smart bits. He's _really_ fucking good in the sack. The pretty face and mind are totally secondary."

"That's why I love you, Merlin," Morgana pats out a tune on his stomach. "You've got your priorities straight."

"I knooow. You'd be wise to learn from me."

Arthur chooses that moment to shout out to them. He smiles and waves. He looks like an eight year old and they both laugh as Merlin blows him a kiss. Arthur clasps his hands to heart and spins in a circle before he stops, flings his arms out and falls backwards onto the sand. Merlin shouts out, "I love you, you stupid fuck!" just as Gwaine and Leon throw themselves onto Arthur. "Oh shit," Merlin says. "Gwaine is going to sit on his poor fucking head. I know it."

"Leon will save him."

Merlin squeezes Morgana's knees because there's such a fondness and _belief_ in her voice he can hardly stand it. She's all talk and noise, that's all it is, because underneath Merlin knows that at this very second she's staring out at Leon and _glowing_ because he really is her knight. The one that will always save the day in her eyes.

"Of course he will," Merlin says.

They watch as Elena jumps onto Gwaine's back and joins the fray. Lance picks up Gwen and runs with her to the water pretending to toss her in. Her shrieking laughter floats back towards them. Leon and Arthur stop wrestling when they realize it's only them and that Gwaine is more concerned with fighting off a beating from Elena. Arthur pulls Leon to his feet and Merlin and Morgana laugh when he stumbles a bit under Leon's weight. Leon laughs and Arthur's grin is crooked as they head toward them.

"Fuck me. We got lucky, didn't we, Mor?" Merlin asks as he watches Arthur start jogging toward him.

Morgana doesn't answer, there's no time, really, because Arthur is there in front of them and pulling Merlin to his feet. Arms wrap around his waist and suddenly Merlin's feet leave the ground as Arthur lifts him up in a bear hug. Morgana shouts at Leon to, "get off me, you fat arse," when he drops down on top of her. Arthur gives Merlin a sloppy, enthusiastic kiss and drops down onto the sand himself, pulling Merlin down onto his lap. Arthur's arm wrap back around Merlin and his chilly nose presses against the side of Merlin's neck. He shivers and squirms at the touch but the rest of Arthur is warm around him and he smells like the chill in the air and a bit like the sea and Merlin can't bring himself to care.

Merlin looks over and although Morgana is slapping Leon to get off of her she's laughing and he thinks he has his answer right there.

Fucking lucky indeed.

 

~End


End file.
